Sunday, July 27, 2008

100 Things, The Big Finale

I've posted three things pretty close together this weekend so make sure you don't miss Heather and Mark's trip to Bills training camp and a friendly debate about Derek Jeter.

Last time! (Thank goodness. This got pretty difficult around 70 or so.)

76. I hate shoes and I never wear them unless necessary. It's not unusual for me to carry my shoes or flip-flops to the car, drive barefoot, and then put them on when I get wherever I'm going. I own one pair of sneakers, one pair of dress shoes, one pair of boots, and one pair of $5 flip-flops.


77. I don't mind going to the movies or out to dinner by myself. In fact, I kind of enjoy it.

78. I'm a slob. Messes pile up around me and it never ever gets to the point where it bothers me. I would happily live in squalor. Fortunately for me, I married a neat freak who actually enjoys cleaning.

79. I'm a Christian and not in name only. I grew up Southern Baptist and am still Protestant. I would say that I'm committed but I have my moments. I'm not a crazy fanatic though, I promise, and there are definitely areas where I veer a little from the stereotypical Christian belief. We won't get into those here however.

80. I didn't really get Seinfeld when it was in first-run but now I think it's pretty genius. We watch at least one episode a day here, sometimes two. George is hands-down my favorite character. (Overrated: Kramer, Underrated: Puddy. Yeah, that's right.) It's way too hard to pick my favorite episode or moment but for those of you looking to kill some time, here are some of my favorites: Car Reservations, The Magic Loogie, Opposite George, George's Answering Machine and It's Not You, It's Me. I can't find a clip of it but I'm also fond of the one where George naps under his desk just for the following exchange:

George: Jerry, I'm trapped under my desk. Steinbrenner is in the room. You got to help me.
Jerry: Who is this?

Seifeld's delivery on that line kills me every time. It also cracks me up that when Jerry calls in his bomb threat, he asks for Fitted Hat Day.

81. I can't straighten my right arm all the way. Many years ago I chipped a bone in my elbow while playing tennis (I flipped over the net which I'm sure was quite comical if you weren't me). I was uninsured at the time so I kind of flaked out on the physical therapy.

82. I think fans who taunt Dany Heatley with "murderer" or other remarks about his accident are no class assholes. I won't say anything to them and it might be someone I like 99% of the time but in that moment? I definitely think less of them.

83. It bothers me that my iPod uses articles like "the" and "a" in certain menus and not in others. There should be some consistency. It also bothers me when people don't alphabetize their blogrolls correctly. The Willful Caboose and the Goose's Roost should be under W and G respectively, not T. I'm not going to quit reading anyone's blog over it or anything but I do take note.

84. I have a pillow named Mr. Squish. Mr. Squish is, to borrow a phrase, older than the trees. He's a feather pillow and has no discernible shape anymore. He's just a blob. But I love Mr. Squish and he goes everywhere with me. Road trips, plane trips, any and all trips. Any time I sleep away from home, Mr. Squish is there.

85. I own a life-size cutout of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

Obi-Wan and I enjoy a Star Wars marathon, 2005

86. I love road trips. I do like that flying cuts down on the length of time required for a trip but I'd still rather pile in a car, crank up some tunes and hit the road. I think this partly goes back to my childhood because we never flew anywhere when I was a kid. I didn't take my first plane ride until my senior year of high school.

87. We also always stayed in the cheapest motel we could find. This is also evidently deeply ingrained in me. When we went to Ottawa for the draft Pookie and Schnookie were in charge of booking the hotel and they gave us all the prices so it's not like I didn't know it was a nice place. But I'm so used to free breakfast being a little box of cereal, a stale doughnut and warm orange juice that the first morning of the trip I wandered down to the lobby in my pajamas, unshowered and in bare feet to grab some food. I then discovered that free breakfast was actually a really nice hot buffet at a little sit-down restaurant. So if you were staying at the Courtyard Marriott in Byward Market during the draft and you saw a slob in a ponytail eating breakfast by herself one morning, that was me.

88. I love potatoes in any form. If we are what we eat, that's me.

89. The last thing I do before I go to bed and the first thing I do in the morning is check my email. It's not like the hours between 11:30 or so and 6:15 are big emailing hours - though I do have a couple of fellow night owls out there who email me then - but I can't help it. I have to know immediately if someone emailed me or commented here which also comes to me via email. I also check my email first thing when I get home from work. And every ten minutes or so after that. It's a sickness. I love my email.

90. I'm going to write a book some day. Really, I am. I have a few in a box somewhere and I'm slowly working my way up from godawful to possibly publishable by someone maybe.

91. According to Google Analytics, outside of "Top Shelf" and "Heather B," the most popular search term leading here is "Bucky Gleason." I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry. (I mentioned this in passing in my last Bucky-tagged entry but I sincerely love Bucky's TBN head shot. He looks so sweet and happy and then you start reading and he sounds like a cranky 78-year-old man. It's kind of awesome.)

Awwww... How sweet!

92. My job does sometimes involve physically restraining or escorting a child from an area. Take how awful that sounds and times it by 1,000 and you're in the general area. Heart-breaking every single time.

93. My favorite sound in the whole world is one of my kids really belly laughing and I am shameless in my efforts to get it out of them. Second favorite sound is whistling. I love a good whistler.

94. Growing up, the only professional sports team around was the Birmingham Barons, the AA affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. Frank Thomas was probably the best future Major Leaguer I remember seeing although most people are more impressed that I saw Michael Jordan during his brief foray into pro baseball. (Birmingham did have other teams during my lifetime there - a USFL team, a CFL team - which I didn't know existed until right this very second - an Arena Football 2 team, and even an ECHL team - but none of them exist anymore or lasted super long to begin with.)

95. The one piece of playground equipment I still can't walk by without trying it out is a good swing. (Yeah, there is a reason I work with young kids. Gives me an excuse to act like one.)

96. I keep a log of all the books I read and have for a number of years now.

97. I've always wanted a tattoo but I've never been able to decide what to get.

98. I think I have nice (blue) eyes.

99. My parents are both left-handed which statistically means that half of their kids should be left-handed as well. Only one out of four is although I remember Lee doing a lot of things with each hand when he was little before he finally settled on his right hand. I always wanted to be left-handed.

100. I have the same internet password for just about everything and people who really know me could probably figure it out eventually if they really tried. Alert readers could probably figure it out if they wanted to commit enough time to trying things out. (Please, no attempting to hack my blog.) Every once in a while I'll come across a website that requires a longer password and if that's the case, I will never, ever remember that password.

Whew! Finished!

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

What year did you move to Buffalo? You weren't here for the Birmingham Bolts of the XFL???

Lee writes with his right hand but I mouse (what is the verb for using a mouse) left handed, and I do that more than write now. I also eat left handed. I do most sports activities right handed so I guess that technically makes me a righty, but everything else I still use both hands.

Heather B. said...

You know, I thought we had an XFL team but they weren't listed on the site I was looking at. You'd think the site didn't take the XFL seriously or something... I moved here in 2000 so I'm pretty sure I missed them.

Lee writes with his right hand...

And apparently now speaks in the third person. Heather doesn't like that.

twoeightnine said...

Login: heather b.
Password: buckylove

Heather B. said...

289, wow! I really am transparent!

Patty (in Dallas) said...

I hate the way my own blogroll is alphabetized. I want The Willful Caboose in the W's, but I want it to start with "The". I still haven't figured out how to trick Wordpress. :D

These are really fascinating lists. And I wish I were left-handed, too.

Katebits said...

When I was little I used to think my left hand "felt bad" because I'm right handed. I would periodically try to be "nice" to my left hand to compensate for my blatant favoritism.

These have been great posts, Heather.

I would like to echo Patty...it's not our fault that Wordpress alphabetizes incorrectly.

S.A.M. said...

85. I own a life-size cutout of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

That. Is. Amazing.

No, seriously, they had one at a grocery store that we went to a lot before the movie came out. My sister and I actually spent like half an hour trying to think of ways to sneak out with it. Sadly, we were unsucessful.

However, years later I was successful in obtaining a Red Baron (from the Red Baron Pizza) life-size cutout. He lived in my dorm room in college for a year, then 2 apartments and he finally left me in Salt Lake City when I moved. It was just time.

I also hate shoes and didn't fly until my sophmore year of college (and woudl never fly if I didn't have to since it makes me ill) and I loooove road trips! :) and potatoes. oh yes.

I knew there was a reason we were friends. (besides the fact that you are just cooL!)

S.A.M. said...

oh yes and congrats on finishing the list!

Heather B. said...

Kate and Patty, I had no idea it was Wordpress's fault. Although now this conversation is taking on a weird deja vu feel so maybe we've talked about this before and I did know that. Does Wordpress automatically alphabetize? Blogger doesn't so you can arrange them as you please. Well, at any rate, everyone on Wordpress gets a free pass. But I'm glaring sternly at the rest of you!

And thanks, guys, I'm glad you enjoyed these posts. It got more difficult as it went along but I really enjoyed writing them. Now I'm actually thinking of more things I could've listed.

Heather B. said...

Sam, I actually paid cold hard cash for my Obi-Wan (while attending Star Wars Celebration II - did I mention that we're geeks?) but I love him. He's back in the spare bedroom with all the scrapbooking stuff and other odds and ends and will probably stay in the spare room in the house. But he's definitely coming with us, oh, yes, he is.

And someday we'll have to take a barefoot, potato-filled road trip together! :-D

Anonymous said...

Lee also likes potatoes. Lee is also going to write a book. Lee does not have brown eyes though.

Anonymous said...

Lee meant that Lee doesn't have blue eyes. Lee does have brown eyes.

sabresfan88 said...

I'm just as obsessed with email as you are. If you are really sick about it like me, and have firefox, there are add-ons that will check your email as often as you want and notify you immediately.

Anonymous said...

As someone who got an A in graduate-level cataloging, I cannot even begin to tell you how much I hate that Wordpress alphabetizes the way it does. I managed to trick it into putting Sitemeter last, but unless I put a number in front of each blogtitle, there's no stopping it from putting TWC and Pensblog under T.

Also, these were great posts, these 100 Things! Well done! Thanks for sharing them with us!

(Oh and sorry about the hotel in Ottawa!)

Mark B said...

"78. I'm a slob. Messes pile up around me and it never ever gets to the point where it bothers me. I would happily live in squalor. Fortunately for me, I married a neat freak who actually enjoys cleaning."

A clarification. I detest the process of cleaning. I'd much rather spend those two hours on Saturday doing something fun! But I do love a tidy home. Got that from my Mom while I watched her clean all those years. :-)

dani said...

Seifeld is one of the greatest shows in the world and it's about nothing!!

That was fun. I love reading random facts about other people.

Jennifer said...

97. I've always wanted a tattoo but I've never been able to decide what to get.

Me too! But also, my dislike of pain has always overruled my desire for a tattoo.

I haven't been able to read your posts for the past few days and I have really missed them. I really enjoyed your "100 Things". You find out how much you have in common with a person through just random facts. Cool!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, wordpress is a cruel alphabetizing mistress.

We are totally TV soul mates, I do believe, Heather.

Seinfeld is a MASTERPIECE. I can sit down and watch an episode I've seen 5 times and still find something to laugh at.

And Friday Night Lights, How I Met Your Mother. Etc. It's so beautiful! :P

I eat with my left hand even though I'm mostly right handed.

It was fun reading your 100 things! I think I might steal this idea in late August when there's nothing to talk about.

Heather B. said...

sabresfan88, I had no idea there was an email add-on. I'll have to check it out even though I'm not sure Firefox could check my email more than I already do. I'm terrible.

Pookie, the Ottawa hotel was awesome! I called my mom when I got home and told her about the breakfast. It's certainly not your fault I'm a hillbilly :-D

Jennifer, the needles/pain part of the tattooing process doesn't really bother me. I just freeze up when i try to think of something I won't mind still looking at when I'm 65.

Dani and alix, I'm glad to know there are other Seinfeld devotees out there! But you both forgot to tell me who your favorite character is! :P I love knowing that about people for some reason. And alix, clearly we both have excellent taste! The three shows you named really are three of my very favorites.

And again, thanks for reading and commenting! Anyone and everyone should feel free to steal the idea for their blogs. I'd love to read them and it's not like I didn't steal the idea in the first place.

Anonymous said...

If anyone has a self-hosted Wordpress (like mine) the WP plugin My Link Order can do the sorting of blogroll links. For WP.com, try assigning your links a rating and sorting them by rating. May not work if you have a bunch in a particular category, though.

Clare said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Laughs 2 Loud said...

79. I'm a Christian and not in name only. I grew up Southern Baptist and am still Protestant. I would say that I'm committed but I have my moments. I'm not a crazy fanatic though, I promise, and there are definitely areas where I veer a little from the stereotypical Christian belief.

Same here, Kid even said, "that sounds just like you, Mom!"

Potatoes of all kinds are my favorite, too!

In my single days I had a full size cut out from the first Batman (with Michael Keaton)that I kept in the corner of my apartment. I don't know how many times I came in late and the thing scared me half to death. You'd think after a while I'd remember. :D

Heather B. said...

Myra, I think the Southern Baptist upbringing might have contributed to my love of potatoes since almost every large gathering involves food, food, food. Hopefully I'll get down to Dallas this year and we can get together for potatoes :-D

Obi-Wan scares me once in a while but he's tucked away in the corner I don't really see until I'm fully in the room now so and that seems to have helped. You would think we'd remember stuff like that after a while.

Laughs 2 Loud said...

I think the Southern Baptist upbringing might have contributed to my love of potatoes since almost every large gathering involves food, food, food.

I thought it was a requirement! The church we have been members of for many years now is Baptist but not Southern. The first potluck we went to was a huge flop, people did not bring near enough food. I was stunned! My love of potatoes goes back to my mom's mashed potatoes. I could eat buckets of them. Oh, also I've never had a beer either. I can't stand the smell.

Ya'll are thinking about coming to Dallas! How exciting! Let us know and we'll be ready to chowdown!

Kirsten said...

Blogger won't let me alphabetize MY way, so all the "thes" and "a's" get lumped together. It bugs the hell out of me, but what can ya do?

S.A.M. said...

In my single days I had a full size cut out from the first Batman (with Michael Keaton)that I kept in the corner of my apartment. I don't know how many times I came in late and the thing scared me half to death. You'd think after a while I'd remember. :D

Myra, that would happen to me with my Red Baron. especially at night. LOL

Anonymous said...

Your sister-in-law drives a pick-up truck.

And....hey! You switched 'b'log sites without telling me! Now I have months of backlog (or is it back'b'log?) to catch up on!

And I'm impressed that you're on the same site as bikesnobnyc. I'm sure you have to be pretty good to get on blogspot if bikesnobnyc is on it.

Anonymous said...

Weird. How is it that John is reading your 'b'log on blogspot, yet when he leaves a comment, it is on blogger.com? And what's all this talk about Wordpress now? How many 'b'logs do you have?

And if you want things to alphabetize correctly, you move the articles to the end....e.g.,

Beatles, The
Goonies, The
Rolling Stone, The


There....that wasn't so hard, was it?

Glad that John could help.

Sarah keeps telling Luke, "Your aunt Heather is going to have so much fun with you when we see her." He's getting to be quite humorous.

Miss. Scarlett said...

So if you were staying at the Courtyard Marriott in Byward Market during the draft and you saw a slob in a ponytail eating breakfast by herself one morning, that was me.

I've stayed in that hotel before! It's great!

Anonymous said...

I am totally the same way about cheap motels and swings. And totally off-topic, but something you could probably appreciate as a Star Wars/comics fan, I went to San Diego Comic-Con (and stayed at a Courtyard that someone else booked). I know it's big and mainstream now, but it was my first time and it was totally fun.